Opening Statement by the President of the Human Rights Council at the open-ended
intergovernmental Working Group on
the Draft United Nations Declaration on the Right to Peace
February 18, 2013
Deputy High Commissioner,
Excellences,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to participate in the opening of the first session of the open-ended
Intergovernmental Working Group on the Draft United Nations Declaration on the Right to
Peace, and welcome the opportunity to address you on this issue.
Let us recall that international peace and cooperation are central to the founding
principles of the United Nations and much of the United Nations work is set in those
directions. The Preamble of the Charter states that the United Nations was founded “to save
succeeding generations from the scourge of war”. In a similar fashion, the Preamble to the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that the “recognition of the inherent dignity
and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation
of freedom, justice and peace in the world”.
During the past few decades, the United Nations has worked, with the support of
Member States and civil society organizations, towards creating a peaceful international order
in which all persons could fully enjoy their fundamental human rights. Numerous resolutions
and decisions of United Nations bodies are related to peace and several international human
rights instruments contain provisions relevant to the same subject.
In 1984 the General Assembly adopted Resolution 39/11 annexing the Declaration on
the Right of Peoples to Peace, which reaffirmed “that the principal aim of the United Nations
is the maintenance of international peace and security”. The General Assembly recognized
the importance of laying the foundation for a culture of peace when it proclaimed the year
2000 as International Year for the Culture of Peace in resolution 52/15. The notion that
peace and human rights are intrinsically linked had been reaffirmed by the General Assembly
in subsequent resolutions, in particular resolution 60/163 and reiterated by the Human Rights
Council in resolutions 8/9 of 12 June 2008 and 11/4 of 12 June 2009.
In paragraph 5 of its resolution 14/3, the Council stressed that peace and security,
development and human rights are the pillars of United Nations system and the foundations
for collective security and well-being.” In the same resolution, the Council requested the
Advisory Committee, in consultation with Member states, civil society, academia and all
relevant stakeholders, to prepare a draft declaration on the right of peoples to peace and to
report thereon to the Council at its seventeenth session.
It is in this context that the open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the
Draft United Nations Declaration on the Right to Peace was established by the Human Rights
Council in July 2012, through its resolution 20/15, with the mandate of progressively
negotiating a draft United Nations Declaration on the Right to Peace, on the basis of the draft
submitted by the Advisory Committee, and without prejudging relevant past, present and
future views and proposals, as stated in paragraph 1 of the resolution 20/15.
In compliance with paragraph 2 of the same resolution, my predecessor Ambassador
Laura Dupuy Lasserre invited the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee drafting group,
Ms. Mona Zufilcar, to participate in the first session of this Working Group. Ms. Zufilcar will
join us soon, compatible with her commitments with the simultaneous session of the
Advisory Committee.
The Advisory Committee drafted a comprehensive draft that addresses many different
issues as the topic of peace demands. The draft is a result of a broad consultation with
Member States and other stakeholders. In its current form, it acknowledges that the right to
peace is universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, and that all States, in
accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, shall use peaceful means
to settle any dispute to which they are parties.
I am conscious that there is a lack of consensus about the concept of the right to peace
as a right in itself, and that several provisions of the draft declaration will be the object of
intense discussions and negotiations. I am however confident that in the able hands of your
chairperson you will be able to smooth down the difficulties and overcome the challenges
that lie in front of you. I wish you well in your endeavour and will follow your work with
utmost attention.